How to Get Free SSL Certificate

SSL certificates or Secure Sockets Layer is the security technology for establishing an encrypted connection between a web server and a web browser. Not only for the websites which collect users information but for the regular blogs also, SSL became an essential factor. Recently, Google announced the HTTPS as an advantage over the non-HTTPS in their search results. Moreover, it is a great security measure to funnel the important data from and to a web server and a web browser.

So, the need of SSL increased drastically over the time. But, the SSL certificates usually costs a considerable amount of money which may not be favorable for the small businesses and personal website owners. Knowing this, many organization put forward the idea of Free SSL and started distributing them for completely free of cost. This greatly helped the site owners to easily turn their website into a secure one without any extra charges and renewable cost.

If you want such a Free SSL for your website too, we have a helpful guide which lists almost of the possible ways to get an SSL certificate for completely free. Have a look.

Get Free SSL from Let’s Encrypt

Let’s Encrypt is a free SSL provider which launched last year and started providing free X.509 certificates for TLS (Transport Layer Security) encryption. It is founded and maintained by the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG). In the sponsor list of the Let’s Encrypt, you could find out almost of the internet giants including, Google, Mozilla, Automatic, Cisco, Facebook, Shopify, Sucuri, etc. This clearly states the relevance of the Let’s Encrypt even if it is a free service.

So, now you know why we chose Let’s Encrypt over many other free SSL providers out there. If you are impressed and wanted to install Let’s Encrypt on your website to make it HTTPS from the normal HTTP, follow the steps given below.

Choose your web server software and system (If you are not sure, just ask your web hosting support team).

Follow the instructions given there based on the selected software and system. (It is hard to list each one of the system variations and software variations with their tutorial. That’s why we just pointed you there. If you face any problem, feel free to ask us.)

If you follow all the steps correctly, you will see your website is accessible from the HTTPS version.

If you are not automatically redirected to the HTTPS version, just follow the steps on our guide on redirecting HTTP to HTTPS.

List of Hosting Services with Let’s Encrypt Support

Here are the list of hosting providers which support the Let’s Encrypt SSL installation. We listed most of them, but maybe something missing. You could always ask your web hosting guys about the Let’s Encrypt support. They will answer you.

34SP.com

a2hosting.com

Active24.co.uk

Active24.cz

all-inkl.com

Apis Networks

blueboard.cz

Bluehost

Brontobytes

Brownrice Internet

Buyshared.net

Certified Hosting

checkdomain

Cloudways

Configbox

Cyon.ch

Deep.ch

developer.swisscom.com

Digital Ocean

Domain & Webspace Tremmel

Dreamhost.com

Dwe Gruppe

EDIS.AT, Austria

Eidolonhost.com

ElbiaHosting.sk

Espace2001.com

EvenNode.com

FlockHosting

Freethought

fortrabbit

Futureweb OG

Gandi

GeekGhost

GoDaddy

Host4Geeks

Hosting90 Systems

HostM.com

hostNET.de

Inertia Networks

Infomaniak

KeyCDN

KingHost

Kinsta

KLE-Hosting

Krystal Hosting

Level27

madRooster.com

manitu

MilesWeb

MivoCloud

MonsterMegs

Mydevil.net

Mythic Beasts

NearlyFreeSpeech.NET

Neify Hosting

Neostrada.nl

Netcup.de

NewHostServers.net

Ngage Hosting

Novatrend.ch

Ntechit.de

Nucleus.be

Online.net

Openminds.be

OVH.com

Planethoster.net

PlotHost

Pressjitsu.com

Progreso.pl

PulseHeberg.com

ReadySpace

RSHosting

Schokokeks.org

Sensson

ServerPilot

Serversaurus

SiteGround.com

Squidix

Strony-Domeny.pl

TerraNetwork Hosting

Thisistap

Tiger Technologies

Top Host

TrafficPlanet Hosting

Uberspace.de

UnoEuro

UnoEuro

VentraIP Australia

Vildmarksdata Sweden

webgo

WebhostOne

WebHostUK Limited

Websupport.sk

Wetopi

WordPress.com

World4You Internet Services GmbH

WP Engine

wp-webhosting.de

XiNiX

XS4ALL

Zuver

All Dedicated/VPS hosting services support the installation. In addition, many other hosting providers are looking forward to adding the Let’s Encrypt support.

CloudFlare Free SSL Certificate

Cloudflare is one of the best security layers chosen by many experts to protect the websites from malicious activities and hackers. They basically tunnel the connection between the ordinary web server and the web browser through their secured high-speed servers placed all over the globe. It not only drastically increase the website performance but also creates an extra layer of security. CloudFlare also provides free SSL certificates for the users.

Unlike the Let’s Encrypt, the CloudFlare Free SSL is incredibly easy to configure. Maybe due to the completely different process of installing SSL certificate. To install a Cloudflare SSL on your website, follow these steps.

We are hoping that you correctly added and configured your website with Cloudflare.

Login to Cloudflare.

Go to the Crypto tab.

Now change the SSL section to Full (You can also choose any of the options as per your requirements.)

That’s it. Now, wait until your certificate getting issued. In most of the cases, it will be over within 24 hours. Check back later.

After the certificate is live, you will see something like “Active Certificate” under the SSL option.

Now try to access your website at https://www.example.com.

If it is opening correctly, you are done.

Also try accessing the website using the non-HTTPS URL. If it is not redirecting automatically, do the HTTPS redirection by following the steps given in our article on HTTP to HTTPS redirection.

Free Trial SSL for 90 Days from Comodo

Comodo is one of the biggest names in the SSL industry. They provide various certificates including EV, Wildcard, UCC, etc. In addition, favorable for the users, they do also provide a free 3 months SSL for the websites. If you want to give it a try, follow these steps.